I have been restoring a wrangler tj with my daughter. There is much rust to remove so I have been experimenting with various methods of rust removal: naval jelly (acid), evapo-rust (chelation), sandblasting and grinding. All of these remove rust but none of them are ideal.
Today, I’m experimenting with yet another technique – electrolysis. Electrolysis uses the motion of dc current to transport rust from the cathode (negative) to the anode (positive). In very simple terms, electrolysis means tearing apart with electricity. Iron (Fe) + water (h20) + Oxygen (O) = rust ( Fe2O3.nH2O), and electrolysis tears Oxygen from rust into, well not rust. Actually, the result is iron and magnetite (Fe3O4) an oxide of iron. Magnetite is black and much more stable than rust.
To do this, you need a 12v source of dc. Any cheap car battery charger will do. You need a bucket or other container, you will need water, a piece of sacrificial metal, something rusty, and something to improve the conductivity of water. Washing soda is a good choice. It’s very safe environmentally. You might be able to find it in the laundry detergent isle of the grocery store. It’s made by Arm & Hammer. If you can’t find it in the grocery store, you can order it online, or you can make it yourself from baking soda.
Basically, you fill the bucket with water adding one tablespoon of washing soda per gallon of water. Put your rusty item in the water with a wire hanger. You want the item to not be touching the sides or bottom of the bucket if possible. Then place your sacrificial piece of metal (anode) in the bucket. The two pieces of metal must not touch. I clamped the anode to the side of the bucket. Then hook the negative (black) to the rusty item. I clamped onto the wire hanger that was sticking out. I don’t think you should put your charger terminals into the water. Connect the positive (red) to the anode. You definitely don’t want the red lead touching the water, it will get covered with gunk. Turn on the charger. You should start seeing bubbles. The bubbles around the anode are oxygen. The bubbles around the cathode (your rusty item) are hydrogen. Only small amounts of these gases are produced, but you should only do this in a ventilated area. Hydrogen and Oxygen are what the big center tank of the space shuttle is filled with. In other words, rocket fuel.
